DENVER, CO (WTAQ) – It was offensive once again. The 2023 Green Bay Packers offense, young as it is, can’t seem to solve problems given ten days between games, or in this case, nearly two full weeks. Coming off the bye, Head Coach Matt LaFleur’s offense still hasn’t found a way to score a touchdown, much less a point in the first halves of games over the past month and despite a second half rally that got them the lead, the Packers couldn’t hold it and fell the Denver Broncos 19-17. It’s driving everyone a little crazy, LaFleur included who said “I think I’m losing my mind, which I probably am.” In the past four games, Green Bay has put up zero, three, three and zero points in the opening two quarters. It’s downright flabbergasting.
The defense did it’s best despite not having Jaire Alexander and De’Vondre Campbell, both inactive. The unit proceeded to lose Darnell Savage to another calf injury and Devonte Wyatt to a knee injury. They kept the Broncos out of the end zone but Will Lutz hit field goals of 32, 29 and 35 yards for the 9-0 lead at the break. The Packers had a chance at points but rookie Anders Carlson pulled a 43 yard try wide left in the second quarter, his first miss of the year.
Carlson redeemed himself with a 29 yard kick that capped the opening drive of the third quarter. Rookie receiver Dontayvion Wicks made a couple of key plays on the march, catching a 17 yard pass on third and four and then grabbing a lateral from Jordan Love and fired across the field to Aaron Jones for another 14 yards.
Just when the team was in need of complimentary football, the defense allowed Denver to gain 47 yards on their next three snaps after the field goal which led to Russell Wilson hitting Courtland Sutton who got behind a rubbed out Rasul Douglas for an 18 yard touchdown that looked to put the game out of reach at 16-3.
But the Packers had another rally in them. Christian Watson opened the next drive with his only big play, a 23 yard catch. The 75 yard march was capped by Romeo Doubs who made a terrific 16 yard touchdown catch, literally pulling the ball out of the hands of defensive back Pat Surtain II in the end zone.
The defense did it’s job with a three and out and the Packers went right back to work. Luke Musgrave pulled in an 18 yard catch on the sideline and just before going out of bounds, got lit up by Kareem Jackson who was not only flagged for a personal foul, but got ejected from the game. Facing 4th and 2 at the four yard line, the Packers gambled and got a very lucky break. Love’s sidearm shot to a slanting Doubs glanced off his hands but rookie Jayden Reed pulled in the deflected ball for the improbable score and the even more improbable 17-16 Packer lead.
In need of a stop, the defense couldn’t produce. Denver moved 41 yards in 9 plays, close enough for Lutz to deliver his 4th field goal of the day from 52 yards out for the 19-17 advantage with 3:50 remaining.
A.J. Dillon took a check down pass over the middle, made a man miss and picked up 29 yards to the Denver 44. It was the longest offensive play of the afternoon. After Dillon got stopped for no gain, Love scrambled for four yards but Elgton Jenkins got called for holding. On 2nd and 20, Love’s pass for Watson on a slant was low and away incomplete and on third down, the young quarterback rolled the dice on a deep shot, just like he did in Las Vegas. It had the same result. The pass up the right sideline for Samori Toure was picked off by safety P.K. Locke and the Broncos ran out the clock in a nearly costly fashion. Facing 4th and 9 and their own 27 with :06 to play, rather than punt, Denver coach Sean Payton let Wilson drop back and fire a deep pass to let the clock expire. It sailed out of bounds just as the clock hit zero. A half second earlier, Green Bay might have been given a gift field goal try from 45 yards.
As it was, LaFleur and the Packers experienced yet another disappointing result, a winnable game that was lost because of another horrible start and not enough key plays on both sides of the ball.
The game finished even statistically. Denver outgained Green Bay 339-331. Love finished 21 of 31, a better percentage than recent efforts, for 180 yards, two scores and a pick for a rating of 90.8. Dillon led the ground attack with 61 yards on 15 carries. Aaron Jones returned to the field after missing two games with a hamstring pull. He had 35 yards on 8 carries and three receptions for 22 more. Jones said he wasn’t quite 100% and the lack of explosion prevented a couple of touches from becoming explosive gains. Musgrave had a team high 4 catches for 30 yards, Dillon led the air game with 34 yards on two grabs.
The defense gave up 145 rushing yards. Javonte Williams piled up 82 on 15 carries and Jaleel McLaughin averaged 9 yards a pop on his 5 attempts. Sutton caught 6 balls for 76 yards, many coming at the expense of Carrington Valentine who got the start for Alexander.
Darnell Savage left in the first half with a calf injury and Jonathan Owens finished up at safety. Eric Stokes was activated off the PUP list on Saturday but his first game in nearly a year was cut short when he pulled a hamstring covering a punt.
Center Josh Myers went down with an ankle injury, forcing Zach Tom to play some snaps at center until Myers returned. Yosh Nijman played some right tackle during the musical chairs up front.
Frustration was the operative word in the locker room after the game, beginning with Love:
And on the defensive side, Rashan Gary said this may be the toughest stretch he’s experienced in his career.
After playing four of their first six games on the road, the Packers at least return home for two straight at Lambeau beginning with the Minnesota Vikings next Sunday. LaFleur and company will be hard pressed to find solutions in just one week’s time after the mini-bye and bye week breaks offered only a very sharp, “Obviously none” response from the coach when asked what progress was made during all that time off to prepare for the league’s worst defensive club. They were a mile up for the ballgame but are coming home a mile, and maybe even more down in the dumps.
